With This Cake: A Meet Me At The Altar Novel Read online

  Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.

  Leanna felt Brody’s arms tighten around her briefly and wasn’t sure how to react. But when his mother started to move closer and he still didn’t release her, she knew she was going to have to do something.

  “Hi, Mrs. King!” she said cheerily. “How are you?”

  Sylvia King continued to walk toward them and her smile grew with every step.

  Weird.

  “I’m doing fine, dear. I wanted to come over and welcome you, but it looks like my son is doing that and more.” She caught sight of the bag of ice Leanna was holding to her head and her expression became instantly concerned. “Oh, my goodness, Lea! What happened?”

  One of Brody’s hands squeezed her side–he could have just been flexing a hand cramp or something–but she had a feeling it had more to do with the situation with his family. And she knew she had to help him.

  Even though he was the reason for all her issues right now.

  Smiling, she pulled away slightly from him and faced his mother. With a small laugh, she explained, “I’m afraid I had a bit of a mishap this morning. I lost my footing when I got out of the van and hit my head on one of the doors.” She shook her head–which hurt a little–but laughed again. “Luckily, Brody was there to help. He immediately ran for ice for me.” Then she smiled at him. “It was really perfect timing on his part.”

  Sylvia looked between the two of them and her smile was firmly back in place. She actually looked pleased!

  “I’m so sorry you got hurt,” Sylvia said before focusing on Brody, “but look at you, being a superhero and helping out!” She squeezed his arm–which was still wrapped around Leanna.

  “I’m just glad I could help,” he said humbly and Lea wanted to kick him.

  “Is there anything I can do for you?” Sylvia asked her. “Should I call a doctor?”

  “No, but thank you. Brody already offered, but I’m fine. Really. The ice is helping and once I take a couple of ibuprofen and maybe have something to eat, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

  But Sylvia spotted the tray of ruined cupcakes. “Oh, no! All your hard work! Were these for today’s events?” And yeah, now she sounded a little less sympathetic and a little more frantic.

  “Part of them, but don’t worry,” she quickly added. “I’ve got plenty of extras with me that just need to be frosted. Nothing is ruined for today. I was planning on baking a lot more once I got set up, so this one tray isn’t a big deal. Trust me.”

  Sylvia didn’t look quite so relieved, but she smiled. “Okay, then. Why don’t I send over some lunch for you–and Brody–and let you get back to work?”

  “That would be lovely. Thank you, Mrs. King,” she replied.

  “It’s not necessary for me, Mom,” Brody added. “I can just…”

  “Nonsense!” his mother interrupted. “Stay and keep an eye on Lea. Food will be over shortly. Bye!” And with a smile and wave, she was walking back toward the door. It wasn’t until she was gone that Lea breathed a sigh of relief.

  And immediately stepped out of Brody’s arms. “So, um…do you have the Advil?”

  Nodding, he handed her the bottle and moved out of her way while she went to get herself some water. She saw the tray of ruined cupcakes and groaned. It wasn’t like it was that big of a deal, but it was just one more thing to do when she had her schedule completely fine-tuned to her liking.

  “How come your trailer is set up all the way over here instead of on the other side of the property with the rest of the setup?”

  “Charlene didn’t want any of the scents cross-contaminating.”

  “Um…what?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, she didn’t want to risk any of the smells from the barbecue or anything else getting on the cake. I told her it didn’t work that way, but she didn’t believe me.”

  He just shook his head and sighed.

  “And how are you supposed to move all the desserts from here to there without driving your van across the lawn?”

  “Apparently, there’s a food utility golf cart arriving soon. It’s refrigerated and has racks for everything and all I have to do it drive it over to the party tent where staff will set up. Fortunately, my job is to simply make the desserts. There’s a staff over there specifically to set up so I can be a guest at the festivities.”

  She refrained from adding a snarky, “Lucky me.”

  “Okay,” he said, moving in close behind her again, interrupting her thoughts. “What can I do to help? Where do we start?”

  Ugh…as sweet as his offer was, the last thing she needed was taking time explaining everything to someone who had no clue how to do what she did.

  Turning, she smiled. “I appreciate the offer, Brody, but…I think it would just be easier–and faster–if I work alone. But thank you.”

  He looked at her as if she were crazy. “But…I told you I can help. It’s my fault you’re having to deal with all of this and…” He paused and crossed his massive arms over his chest. “And I’m here to help whether you like it or not.”

  Popping the pills in her mouth, she quickly drank some water before glaring back at him. “But it’s not necessary. I have a system and…”

  “Then give me something else to do. I get not wanting me to decorate those things,” he said with more than a hint of distaste, “but surely there’s something else you need help with.”

  “I needed help bringing all this stuff in an hour ago,” she said tartly. She placed her hands firmly on her hips because she seriously did not appreciate his tone. “Now it’s all here and you’ll just be in the way. Again.”

  The incredulous look on his face was almost enough to make her laugh, but…she didn’t. Heck, she couldn’t even believe she was being this forward and snarky with him. If Josie and Skye were here to witness this, they’d be giving her high fives.

  But suddenly it didn’t feel so good.

  It just felt mean.

  And Leanna hated mean people.

  Feeling more than a little ashamed, she apologized. “I’m sorry. This…I don’t know why I said what I said. That’s not who I am. And if you still would like to help me, then…I’d appreciate it.”

  His own features softened as if he was uncomfortable, and after raking a hand through his hair, he mumbled a gruff, “No problem.”

  Leanna walked around and tried to think about where she needed to start. “Okay, if you can find us some large trash bags, I think that’s the best place to start. We’ll need to throw out all these ruined ones and I’ll get everything set up to start icing their replacements.”

  With a curt nod, he began looking through the cabinets while she went to get all of her tools set up. It didn’t take long for her to get out one bucket of icing and her piping bag and tips. When she had everything on the prep table, she noticed that Brody already had the dirty tray in the sink and was washing it.

  Okay, that was incredibly helpful.

  Before she seriously got to work, she set up her wireless speakers and pulled up one of the many playlists on her phone and waited for Beyoncé to start singing. At the first few notes of Single Ladies, Leanna smiled and knew her mood was about to improve.

  Walking over to the bag that contained her aprons and gloves, she pulled out what she needed and went and grabbed a fresh tray of cupcakes from the refrigerator and put them beside everything else. That’s when Brody joined her.

  He glanced at the speakers and then at her. “You need music to work?”

  “Oh, definitely,” she replied, doing a little dance as she made sure she had everything she needed to get started.

  “So now you put the icing on these?” he asked, and again, it was obvious he was not impressed.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you have something against all cupcakes or just these?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Nodding, she explained. “Every time you look at or mention the cupcakes, you make a
face and your voice definitely gets a tone. So what gives?”

  The sound he made was a little growly and a lot sexy. Leanna felt herself blush and quickly turned away and busied herself with scooping icing into the piping bag.

  And desperately tried not to break out in a full-on dance.

  “I don’t have anything against your cupcakes,” he said slowly. “I’m just not a dessert person. I don’t see what the big deal is. Plus, I think cupcakes are a little ridiculous for a bunch of adults to be eating as their dessert. I tend to think of them as more of a…a…children’s treat.”

  She was shoving the icing so hard into the bag that she almost broke it. Luckily, she caught herself in time and was careful not to correct him on how wrong he was.

  “Cupcakes are for everyone. Not just children. And they happen to be the perfect dessert. They can be eaten with your hands–so there’s no need to sit down and eat–and they are the perfect amount of sweetness and portion size. Honestly, I get more orders for cupcakes than almost anything else.”

  “That just seems ridiculous.”

  Rather than argue with him, she put a large star tip on the piping bag and grabbed a cupcake. The icing was a chocolate buttercream and she had won awards for it. Once she finished piping the design on, Leanna put the bag down and held the cupcake out to Brody. “Here. Try this.”

  “Um…no. Thank you,” he added.

  “Come on, I’d really like it if you’d just try it.”

  “Look, Leanna, I’m not trying to be rude, but…I don’t eat cake. Or cookies. Or…any kinds of sweets.” He shrugged. “They’re just not my thing.”

  Of course, she gave him a cursory glance from head to toe and, she had to admit, he was in fantastic shape–all lean muscles and not an ounce of fat on him. That in and of itself was enough to make her want to hate him, but…she knew plenty of uber-healthy people who still indulged in the occasional sweet treat.

  “So you don’t eat cake,” she said flatly. “Like ever.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “What do you have on your birthday?”

  Another shrug. “I don’t know…breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

  Now she couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. “And when people sing to you? Where do they put the candle?”

  Right now, she knew where she’d like to put it.

  “I’m a little old for people to be singing to me on my birthday,” he said, sounding condescending.

  The urge to smash the cupcake in his face was strong, but she resisted. Instead, she peeled the paper from it and took a bite of it herself.

  And hummed happily because yeah, it was that good.

  “You’re never too old for singing on your birthday,” she countered, but knew she was fighting a losing battle. It hit her how her first opinion of him–the one from brunch last weekend–was accurate. There was a reason why his family felt the way they did about him and he certainly didn’t seem to care if anyone liked him, so…

  She took another bite of her cupcake and then grabbed the piping bag again and began decorating.

  “Um…what can I help you with?” he asked after a moment.

  “Honestly? I’m not sure.”

  “How about I take your luggage or whatever you need up to your rooms and while I’m gone, you can think of something I can do to help?”

  “Brody…”

  But he wasn’t listening. He was already walking to the door. “Your bags are in the van, right?”

  She nodded and hoped he would take his time moving them.

  But he never got a chance to leave because Sylvia was walking in the door as he was trying to walk out of it. She had two servers behind her carrying what looked like a giant picnic basket and two padded stools.

  “Um…”

  “I told you I’d bring you lunch,” she said as she began pointing the servers in the direction of where she wanted everything. “Ooh…Beyoncé! I do love some of her songs!”

  “You know who Beyoncé is?” Brody asked incredulously.

  “Sweetie, everyone knows who Beyoncé is,” she replied, patting him on the cheek before looking over at Leanna. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, Lea, so I sent a large variety. Brody’s a bit of a health food nut, but I’m hoping you’re a little more adventurous.”

  “Um…”

  “There are a couple of different sandwiches, some salads, some amazing fried chicken, and a small charcuterie board.” She smiled with pleasure. “I hope you don’t mind that I did include some chocolate chip cookies in there. I get them from a bakery in Knoxville and they are to die for. They’re actually chocolate chip and sea salt. Very decadent.” Turning, she thanked the servers who now had everything set up before following them toward the door. “Just put everything back in the basket and leave it outside the door and someone will get it later. Bye!”

  Leanna felt like her head was spinning and was about to say something to Brody when he excused himself and went after his mother.

  With a shrug, she walked over and looked at all the food with a grin of her own. It all looked amazing, but the large cookies caught her attention first. Unsure if she was supposed to wait for Brody or not, she opted to go for the one thing she knew he wouldn’t eat.

  Besides, life was too short and there was nothing wrong with starting with dessert.

  It wasn’t unusual for his mother to be incredibly hospitable.

  Brody knew this and accepted it.

  What he couldn’t accept was the way she was already forming ideas about him and the baker and that just wasn’t going to fly. It was better to nip it in the bud right now before she made things worse.

  “Mother,” he said as he jogged to catch up with her. “May I have a word?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “But don’t linger out here too long. Your lunch will get ruined.”

  “Nothing is getting ruined and nothing is happening,” he said pointedly. “I know what you’re doing and you need to stop.” She simply stared at him but he wasn’t fooled. “I met the woman less than an hour ago and I was simply being polite to her for Travis and Charlene’s sake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to bring her luggage up to her suite.”

  “I’ll have the girls do it,” she replied and motioned to the two servers who had helped with lunch. “Where are the bags, dear?”

  “In her van but…I’ve got this. And I’m not having lunch with Leanna or anything else. Do I make myself clear?”

  Her gaze narrowed before she told the girls about the luggage and where it needed to go. Once they were out of earshot, she took a step toward him. “Your father and brother will be thrilled to hear how you’ve taken a liking to Leanna. And if you ask me, it would go a long way in making everyone happy if you just…you know…went with it.”

  Brody was fairly certain his jaw was on the floor. “Go with it? What…?”

  Her smile returned. “Do you enjoy being at odds with everyone, Brody? I mean, honestly, do you think it’s easy for me to watch you fighting with everyone all the time?”

  “It’s not all the time,” he said wearily. “It was just because of…this!” He motioned to the property. “Have you even gone to a four-day engagement party? It’s ridiculous!”

  “Brody…”

  “And I’m allowed to have an opinion on it,” he went on. “No one seems to mind my opinion when we’re at work and I’m making money, but once we leave the office, I’m expected to just be quiet and not say anything when I don’t agree with how something is being done? Why is no one backing me up and making Dad or Travis or Charlene leave me alone?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “It’s exactly like that,” he said flatly, not wanting to argue with her too. Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “So now what?”

  Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. “Now…go and have lunch with Leanna. Try being nice to her.”

  “I have been very nice to her…”

&n
bsp; “Let everyone see how agreeable you’re being and maybe by the end of the weekend, things will be better between you and Travis. And your father,” she added.

  Not rolling his eyes took some serious super-human strength, but he managed.

  “And then what, Mom?”

  “Then you go with whatever it is Travis and Charlene want for their wedding and keep your thoughts on it to yourself. If you really feel the need to vent, you can take me to dinner and complain all you want,” she said sweetly and Brody couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

  “That’s very kind of you.”

  “I’m a very kind woman.” She squeezed his hand one more time. “Go have lunch and try to relax. Tell Leanna her luggage is up in her room and her little food utility cart is expected here after lunch. If she needs anything at all, she has Pamela’s number.”

  “Who’s Pamela?”

  “The event planner. Fantastic woman. Patience of a saint.”

  “She must be for handling all of this…”

  “Agreed,” Sylvia said. “Now I have to get to my nail appointment. I’ll see you for the barbecue. It starts at five. Don’t be late.”

  Like I have a choice…

  Sliding his hands into his pockets, he groaned. Now he had no choice but to go and help Leanna and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be too welcomed there. Hanging his head, he turned and walked back into the trailer and hoped they could come to an agreement.

  He found her finishing what looked like one of the cookies while twirling around with her free hand in the air.

  She froze when she spotted him, her eyes going wide.

  “So, um…”

  She waved a chocolate-covered finger at him. “Do not judge me! It’s been a stressful morning.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s probably going to be a stressful afternoon too,” he murmured as he walked over and sat down on one of the stools.

  Wiping her hands, she sat down on hers. “What does that mean?”

  “It means…you’re stuck with me for a few hours. My mother ordered it.”

  “Ordered it? What exactly are you talking about?”

  God, this is embarrassing…

  “I know you heard about the whole argument on Sunday,” he began.